Gilbert, Frank T. "Historic Sketches of Walla Walla, Whitman, Columbia and
Garfield Counties, Washington Territory; and Umatilla County, Oregon." Portland,
OR: Print & Lithographing House of A. G. Walling, 1882. p. a19.
THEODORE P. INGALLS
the subject of this brief sketch, is the son of Israel and Mary Ingalls,
both of whom were natives of Penobscot county, Maine, the father's date of birth
being December 25, 1790, and the mother's November 9, 1795. The first home of
Theodore's parents after their marriage was in their native county, from where
they emigrated to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1816, where they remained until
1831, when they again moved, this time to near Greenville, Bond county,
Illinois. In this last mentioned home, Theodore P. Ingalls was born September
13, 1835, a few weeks after his father had been summoned to the mysterious
unknown, by that scourge, the cholera, that swept the state that year. In 1837,
Mrs. Ingalls moved with her family to Pittsfield, in Pike county, of the same
state, and the family supported itself with the mother, by renting and working
farms upon shares. Two sisters, Mrs. Roxie Keiser and Mrs. Elizabeth Butler,
and three brothers, named Joseph W., Arthur and Henry Ingalls, had left home and
become residents of Oregon in 1849, and, in 1852, Mrs. Ingalls concluded to
cross the plains with her remaining children. It was that year when the
emigrant was pursued with famine and pestilence, and a sorry journey it proved
to be to this family. Out of fourteen wagons, of which Mrs. Ingalls' was one,
twenty-one persons died, and the sod of the plains became their last resting
place. One of her own children, Lyman B., was among the number, and all of them
were more or less affected. After reaching Oregon, Mrs. Ingalls settled in
Clackamas county, where she lived a number of years, when she broke up keeping
house, and ended her days at the home of one of her children. Theodore then
started life for himself, working for wages, and, in 1856, joined the volunteer
Oregon force, and served through the campaign of that summer in west Washington
Territory, In the years that follows until 1867, he visited the mines of Yreka,
California; Salmon river, Boise, and Granite creek, in what then was eastern
Oregon, without meeting with any marked success. In 1867, February 27, he was
married to Miss Katy Smith, of Clackamas county, Oregon. Mrs. Katy Ingalls is a
native of Ohio, where she was born March 15, 1842. In 1874 Mr. Ingalls moved to
Walla Walla county, in this territory, upon the farm where he now lives, in
Spring valley, six miles south of Waitsburg. His property consists of 320
acres, all of which is fenced, and 240 of it being cultivated. For improvements
see sketch in this book. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls is one by
adoption named Minnie, born July 20,1876.
* * * *
Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in February 2007 by Diana Smith.
Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.